John with Coco
In a perfect storm of holidays, Monday was a U.S. holiday, and the remaining four days were Eid holidays – so the Embassy was closed all week. It’s the Muslim holiday that is known for animal sacrifice. In the days leading up to it, you’ll see goats, sheep, cows and camels for sale on the side of the road. Then on Eid day, the animal is slaughtered by the family. I just try not to go where I am apt to see any of it – call me a hypocrite!
Lots of folks took advantage of the time off and left for the week. John and I had a stay-cation of sorts, although we both worked some each day. The Pakistani Prime Minister is heading to the U.S. to meet with President Obama, so I went in most days to work on visas for his entourage. I also went to the gym each morning. And we spent a lot of time loving on Coco, as you can see
Most afternoons we studied Spanish, and worked in several episodes of “The Bridge.”
We were also invited to a lot of dinner parties – we really ate well the entire week!
Tuesday night we went to Barb and Edward’s. Turns out that one of the young couples at the table had previously dog-sat for Coco, our current charge – small world!
Thursday night we went to Konstantin and Carolyn’s – Konstantin made some excellent ribs!
And then last night we went to Joseph and Sunera’s. We enjoyed a nice evening with them, Konstantin and Carolyn, and Debbie. Lots of laughing.
On a sad note, I met a man last Friday through work, a politician in KP, sort of the wild west part of Pakistan near the Afghan border. He was very nice, quiet, dignified, about my age and seen to be an “up and comer” in Imran Khan’s political party. Married, with two kids, ages one and six. We chatted and I teased him some, which he took good-naturedly. I was shocked to read only five days later that he had been blown up in a suicide blast on Eid as he greeted well-wishers outside his home. It sent chills down my spine. Here in Islamabad, we are pretty insulated and it’s easy to forget how dangerous it gets, but this incident brought it home for me.
Coco